The Congress high command on Sunday accepted the resignation of E.V.K.S. Elangovan as the president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. While this has triggered a race for the post, a section of the party’s State unit leaders and even some who had walked over to the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) are of the view that frequent changes in the TNCC leadership and factionalism defeat efforts to strengthen the party.
Though Mr. Elangovan’s supporters have maintained that his resignation was voluntary, it does not take a seer to conclude that his decision was shaped by the high command’s inclination to replace him in the wake of the party’s poor show in the recent Assembly elections. Mr. Elangovan was appointed TNCC president for a second time in 2014 after former Union Minister G.K. Vasan revived the TMC.
Empathising with Mr. Elangovan, a senior TMC leader says, “Judging a performance of a TNCC president just based on an outcome in an election is unfair, especially when the State unit is not allowed to function independently and build the party organisation.” He acknowledges the role played by Mr. Elangovan in retaining the party together after the exit of Vasan and his loyalists.
Traditionally, TNCC presidents have never been allowed to function beyond a period of three years and probably the last of the presidents to have a six-year term were late Palaniyandi and Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthi. Ironically, the TNCC functioned without elections for over three decades and top office-bearers were only appointed by the AICC. It was Mr. B.S. Gnanadesikan, who as TNCC president, convinced the high command to conduct elections for district office-bearers after a gap of 18 years.
Too close for comfortIt is learnt that the AICC leadership was unhappy with the outgoing TNCC president as it felt that he was unable to force the DMK to part with more seats in the Assembly elections. The leadership faulted him for moving too close with the DMK leadership instead of maintaining “equidistance” with the DMK and the AIADMK.
“The high-command is oblivious to the ground realities. Gone are the days when the Congress was an inevitable ally for a Dravidian party to win the election. Our vote share has come down to such a level that we were treated as untouchables in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. We have won eight seats in the Assembly election while all other political parties drew a blank,” said a senior Congress leader.
Done in by factionalismAt the same time, the outspoken and irrepressible Elangovan has made more enemies in the party than outside. Rampant factionalism also played a role in forcing him to resign.
“It is a unique problem. Factional leaders will never give you a breathing space. TNCC president has to deal with the AICC general secretaries who are appointed to oversee party affairs in the State. They have no idea about the State and easily get carried away by the complaints of others,” said a Congress leader close to Mr. Elangovan.
The problem with the Congress is that it is active only during elections, particularly during Lok Sabha polls.
It started during the time of Indira Gandhi, who saw PCC presidents such as Kamaraj and Nijalingappa as a threat and clipped their wings.
“The high command has not realised that most of the welfare schemes are implemented through local bodies and Congress’s representation in these democratic institutions is very poor. A Congressman has no proper platform to interact with voters,” said a former Congress MP.
